Waldo's Virginia Political Blogroll » Eileen

Gulf Residents Speak Out in Virginia on Need for a Clean Energy Policy

Eileen — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:52:11 +0000

From Repower America and Alliance for Climate Protection press release:

RICHMOND, Va. (July 15, 2010) - Today, residents from the Gulf Coast traveled to local Richmond restaurant Louisiana Flair to describe the influence the recent oil spill has on their lives, and their desire for passage of a comprehensive clean energy and climate policy this year. This comes on the heels of a recent fly-in where Gulf residents met with leaders in Congress to discuss their firsthand experiences of the Gulf oil spill and why they want the Senate to pass clean energy policies to end our country's oil addiction.

This event featured a broad group of Gulf residents who spoke about the damage this catastrophe has had on their way of life and local communities. Those affected by the oil spill are asking Virginia's senators to make a choice: move forward with a comprehensive climate and energy bill in 2010 or stand on the side of Big Oil.

"I traveled to Virginia to share my story," said Aimee Dominique, a clinical social worker from Lafayette, La. "Together with other Gulf residents, we told them the best way to respond to this devastating 'gusher' is by writing a letter to our senators urging an end to our nation's dangerous dependence on oil."

The participants represent workers and business owners from a variety of industries hit hardest by the oil spill, putting a human face to the tragedy that continues to unfold in the Gulf.

Chris Sehman, Helen Back Caf? owner in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. said, "I told Virginia residents and leaders that we must have a real comprehensive and long-term plan to give American businesses the tools necessary to develop clean energy technologies and move us past dirty fuels. At this important moment in time, senators should heed President Obama's call and pass a comprehensive climate and energy bill to put America in control of its energy needs."

“No New Drilling” vs. “Re-institute the Federal Moratorium”

Eileen — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:01:43 +0000

Here's a great new video from the Surfrider Foundation featuring surfing legend Laird Hamilton. My only issue is mention of the "m" word (moratorium). I think we can get somewhere if instead we say "no new drilling" which is essentially the same thing, but easier for the pols to swallow.

The High Bar that Must be Set for Our Virginia Beaches

Eileen — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:45:35 +0000

The following (below the fold) is a transcript from the presentation I gave before Senator Mary Margaret Whipple's Virginia Commission on Energy and the Environment on Thursday, July 8.

Especially in light of the Gulf Coast oil spill disaster, it is vitally important that we gain resolution to the position that exploration for offshore oil and gas only be considered after Federal regulatory policies, drilling and production technology, and oil spill response capability have been upgraded to ensure that there is no possibility either a major spill or recurring small spills having a negative impact on our critically important tourism, outdoor recreation, and commercial and sport fishing industries.

I wrapped up my remarks with a call to set a high bar in any allowances for drilling off our Virginia beaches. It is a conditional call we are now making to the Virginia Beach City Council and the Virginia Beach Hotel Motel Association, each of which has previously passed resolutions in support of drilling. These are conditions that the Mayor's Alternative Energy Task Force is currently working into its final report thanks to the stellar work of Task Force member, Joe Bouchard.

On June 26, over 1,700 people joined "Hands Across The Sand" along the Virginia Beach's Oceanfront, Sandbridge, and North End, as well as Norfolk's Ocean View and Hampton's Buckroe Beach. We stood together calling for the protection of our beautiful clean Virginia beaches and for the end of our harmful addiction to oil. I believe the VBHMA and the City Council indeed also fully understand how integral the health and welfare of our coastal environment is to so many livelihoods within especially our resort community. I believe they will do the right thing and back away from the resolutions of drilling support.

(Photo by Stephanie Himel-Nelson, Light Hearted Photography)
In response to safety and environmental concerns raised by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, on May 27, President Obama announced Secretary Salazar's decision to cancel Virginia's Lease Sale 220, otherwise headed for the auction block in 2012.

Other reasons weighed heavily into the decision to cancel Virginia Lease Sale 220.

Sec. Salazar has often repeated that information on the possible effects of Atlantic drilling "is 30 years out of date".

Revealed at a Department of Interior workshop in Williamsburg hosted by VIMS in December 2008, large data gaps exist when it comes to endangered and protected species, fish and fisheries, the biology of the ocean floor, the ecosystems found in Virginia's offshore ocean canyons and coral reefs, as well as the physical and geological oceanography.

Off Virginia's coast, there have been sightings of sea turtles, right whales, humpback whales, and sperm whales - all of which are classified as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Dolphins, porpoises, pilot whales and beaked whales which are all protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act have also been sighted in what is Virginia's lease sale area. Due to a lack of consistent survey effort throughout the region, seasonal distribution patterns and abundance patterns for all these species are not well known. Also, no surveys for birds have been conducted in the region.

There is limited information regarding the ecosystems of the Norfolk and Washington Canyons, two deep water canyons within the Virginia lease sale area, as they tend to be spatially diverse, complex and difficult to study.

Especially for oil spill risk analysis, current and wind information has been deemed a high priority data gap. There is limited understanding of the effect of internal tides and waves and their mixing with currents at the shelf break and canyon heads.

Unknown is also the amounts of oil and natural gas off our Atlantic coast. Sec. Salazar has only recently proposed seismic studies to be done in the Atlantic. Nonetheless he indicated that Virginia's Lease Sale 220 would have proceeded without benefit of the newer seismic studies with our potential 2012 lease sale made reliant on 30 year old studies.

Seismic study involves multiple companies using huge arrays of high-intensity airguns to repeatedly comb and overlap over hundreds of thousands of acres of ocean, blasting into the water every few seconds for months on end.

These seismic air guns have been proven to have very detrimental impacts on marine mammals (including endangered whales like the Right whale) and fish. Strandings of whales on beaches and reduce commercial fish catches are one of the more obvious results of seismic exploration.

Seismic study only tells us where carbon deposits exist. It takes exploratory drilling to actually determine the amounts that may be present. Such exploratory drilling is done at a point in the process past the lease sale. In other words, it is done by whichever oil company (i.e., BP, Shell, and ExxonMobil) has bought the lease area.

This is past the point where any of our local and state officials can consider and weigh in on the benefits versus the risks and have any say whatsoever. It'll be completely up to the oil companies that own the leases to make the decision whether or not to drill off our coast.

Enough about the unknowns, let's look at what we do know.

It is unfortunate that it took a disaster as is currently occurring in the Gulf Coast for us to wake up to the realities that are offshore drilling.

The Gulf oil spill is not a unique, one-of-a-kind, once in a millennium event that will never occur again. According to congressional testimony by the oil industry, there is no guarantee that what occurred in the Gulf Coast couldn't occur again tomorrow.

And despite claims made by the oil industry, blowouts and other disasters causing large spills have occurred many times over the years.

I could probably occupy a lot of time listing out all the large oil spills that have occurred within the last 30 years. I've highlighted a few of them here.

The "new technology" that the oil industry touts was also responsible for a 2005 oil spill off Ventura County California's coast. Platform operators failed to keep control of the wellhead by removing a "lockdown pin". Removal of the pin circumvented the well's safety system to prevent blowouts.

In July 2008, human error caused a disastrous spill of 450,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil, which closed over 100 miles of the Mississippi River, caused billions in economic activity to be lost, stranding over 200 vessels.

In December 2007, over 24,000 barrels of oil spilled in the North Sea as it was being piped from an offshore platform to a loading buoy.
In March 2006, up to 267,000 gallons of oil were spilled over a 1.9 acre area of the pristine Prudhoe Bay. The spill originated from a 0.25-inch hole in a 34-inch diameter pipeline.

In June 2008, a rupture in an underwater Shell Oil pipeline caused a 58,800-gallon spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the shores of South Padre Island, Texas. The resultant oil slick covered an area of 80 square miles. Crude oil washed ashore and affected about one mile of beach near the mouth of the Rio Grande River, causing beach closings and expensive clean-up - all during the height of tourist season.

While Virginia is not prone to the same scale of hurricanes as hit the Gulf Coast, it should be noted that the U.S. Coast Guard reported that during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita roughly 9 million gallons of oil were spilled from 6 major spills and 5 medium spills, and not counting the oil released from over 5,000 minor spills. (As a point of comparison, 11 million gallons of oil were spilled by the Exxon Valdez.)

MMS reported that as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 113 platforms were destroyed and 457 pipelines were damaged. One of the bigger spills caused by the hurricane was a pipeline burst that spilled more than 53,000 gallons of crude oil into the surrounding marshes.

The largest warning signs alerting us to the false claims by the oil industry contending that new technology makes drilling environmentally safe occurred last August when a blowout occurred on a rig, the Montara, operating in the Timor Sea off Australia's coast. It took three months to bring the spill under control by eventually drilling two relief wells.

The resultant spill grew to a size larger than New Jersey and impacted some of the world's most iconic and threatened species in the ocean. It devastated the Indonesian coastal economy largely dependent on sustenance fishing and virtually wiped out its foothold in the world's competitive seaweed market. The Montara was built in 2007 and utilized every state-of-the-art new technology allowing the oil industry to sell drilling as "environmentally safe."

The Deepwater Horizon was built in 2001 and also utilized the same "environmentally safe" drilling technology. What the Gulf Coast spill so clearly illustrates is that this new drilling technology has only allowed drilling at deeper depths in the ocean, not greater safety. As the Montara and Deepwater Horizon disasters show, very little has changed since the 1979 Ixtoc I drilling platform blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, which continued to spill for nine months before relief wells allowed the spill to be capped. Today we are attempting and again failing at using all the same methods and technologies (miles of booms, "top kill", throwing garbage at it) as was employed over 30 years ago.

The lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon disaster are three-fold. We learned one that oil and gas drilling platforms are inherently vulnerable and volatile, and that offshore drilling is inherently dangerous. We also learned that we are in no way capable of fixing what stands a strong possibility of getting broken. The response plans to the Gulf spill have been revealed as grossly inadequate and in some instances may have caused more harm than good.

Perhaps most impactful for us in Virginia are revelations of the all too cozy relationship between the Federal regulatory body, Mineral Management Service, and the oil industry. For years, the oil industry has successfully lobbied for loopholes, and wrote its own safety regulations.

Secretary Salazar has now divided MMS into three agencies, attempting to erect firewalls between the conflicting interests of this all too powerful and easily co-opted agency. Total reform of MMS, however is what is warranted.

The Santa Barbara spill of 1969 had resulted in both a presidential and congressional moratorium on drilling in the Atlantic. It was almost 30 years later in 2008 that both those moratoriums were removed. Today there are no protections standing to prevent drilling in Federal waters which starts 3 miles off our coast.

Today, Virginia stands enrolled in a current drilling program (2012-2017) that indeed puts drilling just 3 miles off our Chesapeake Bay. We stand in that drilling program with absolutely no confidence in the oil industry's claims that drilling can be done in an "environmentally sound" way, with no confidence that the oil industry operates remotely cognizant to the fact that spills occur and occur often, and with no confidence that even a mediocre response plan can be rolled out in the event of an accident. We stand shaken in our confidence in the Federal government to apply and institute adequate environmental regulations governing the drilling process and to adequately and safely assess the environmental risks posed by drilling off our shores.

Our beloved clean Atlantic coast is the backbone of our coastal economies, generating billions of dollars in revenues from tourism, recreation and commercial fishing. It is worth dotting every "i" and crossing every "t" in ensuring its protection for generations to come. At a minimum, the Commonwealth of Virginia must resolve to the position that exploration for offshore oil and natural gas only be considered after Federal regulatory policies, drilling and production technology, and oil spill response capabilities have been upgraded to ensure that there is no possibility either a major spill or recurring small spills having a negative impact on our critically important tourism, outdoor recreation, and commercial and sport fishing industries.

All Hands on Deck for Hands Across The Sand June 26

Eileen — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:24:12 +0000

We've been inundated with heartbreaking images of oil covered birds and devastated fishermen struggling in the wake of the BP oil disaster. While officials are working to clean up the mess, we need to work to make sure this never happens again.

While we applaud President Obama's decision to cancel Virginia's lease sale, we are not out of the woods on drilling. Virginia, along with our Atlantic coast neighbors, is still enrolled in a leasing program that could allow drilling as close as just 3 miles off our coast and our Chesapeake Bay!

The Obama Administration superseded the 2010-2015 program with its own 2012-2017 program for the Atlantic from Delaware south. That's what we are fighting.

Keep in mind that there are no moratoriums protecting the Atlantic. In 2008, President Bush cancelled a presidential moratorium and Congress allowed a congressional ban to expire.

Virginians are urged to join Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation and Oceana for HANDS ACROSS THE SAND, a national day of action, on Saturday, June 26. We'll join hands and form a line in the sand to say "No" to offshore drilling and "Yes" to clean renewable energy.

HANDS ACROSS THE SAND will be held on these Virginia beaches:

- Virginia Beach Oceanfront between 19th and 31st Streets (Click here to RSVP.)

- Sandbridge, Little Island Park, 3820 Sandpiper Road, Virginia Beach (Click here to RSVP.)

- Ocean View, Community Beach Park, 700 E. Ocean View Ave., Norfolk (Click here to RSVP.)

- North End, 81st Street and Atlantic Ave., Virginia Beach (Click here to RSVP.)

- Buckroe Beach off Point Comfort Ave., Hampton (Click here to RSVP.)

At 11am, we'll start gathering at each beach. We'll join hands from 12:00 to 12:15.

HANDS ACROSS THE SAND started in Florida earlier this year as over 10,000 Floridians locked hands over 80 beaches in opposition to oil drilling. "This movement is not about politics; it is about protection of our shoreline, our waterways, our tourism, our coastal military missions and our quality of life," said Dave Rauschkolb, founder of HANDS ACROSS THE SAND.

HANDS ACROSS THE SAND is a National Day of Action with hundreds of events happening across the country on the same day, Saturday, June 26. Together we will call on President Obama to move America beyond oil over the next two decades. For more information, visit http://www.HandsAcrossTheSand.com.

Even as oil spews from the bottom of the Gulf, Big Oil and its allies are doing everything they can to dangerously drill off our coasts. Attend Hands Across the Sand to protect our oceans, beaches, and wildlife from more offshore drilling!

HANDS volunteers are needed. Please contact Eileen Levandoski, Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, eileen.levandoski@sierraclub.org.

A New iPhone App for the Coal Industry

Eileen — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:01:26 +0000

Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition 2010 Recommendations

Eileen — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:56:41 +0000

The Governors' Wind Energy Coalition released recently its 2010 Wind Energy Recommendations. The full report (available here) is entitled "Great Expectations: U.S. Wind Energy Development". Here's a summary of its recommendations:

Adopt a Renewable Electricity Standard
The nation's wind energy industry and supporting infrastructure will not reach their full potential unless the nation sets a minimum requirement for the use of renewable electricity.

Develop New Interstate Electric Transmission System
Infrastructure as Needed to Provide Access to Premier Renewable Energy both On-Shore and Offshore Developing the states' rich domestic renewable resources will require improvements to the electric transmission system.

Support Coastal, Deep Water, Offshore Wind Energy Technology Research and Development
If the nation is to meet the goal of providing 20 percent of its electric needs from wind power by 2030 and then continue wind's expansion to provide even greater contributions in both the electricity and the transportation sectors, it must develop and use all the nation's wind energy resources, including the rich wind areas along the nation's coastal and Great Lake states.

Streamline Permitting Processes for Both Offshore and On-Shore Wind Development Projects
Congress must approve legislation that will allow for the efficient and timely review of wind projects on federal lands and in off shore coastal regions. While legislation is needed to improve the permitting process, dramatically improved coordination among state, federal and industry participants is equally important.

Dramatically Expand Wind Research, Innovation, and Collaboration
Wind power technology is one of the best economic development opportunities for our states. Production of wind energy components and systems can help revitalize the manufacturing sector, and will provide substantial benefits to the nation's economy through domestic and export markets.

Extend the Treasury Department Grant Program Created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and Adopt a Long-Term Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) with Provisions to Broaden the Pool of Investors Eligible to Participate
An extension of the Treasury Department grant program is necessary while financial markets continue to recover. Over the longer-term, the Production Tax Credit, which has been the primary federal incentive for wind energy, should be extended for at least five years to provide a stable incentive for wind energy investment.

Powerful Clean Energy Ad Airing in VA, Aimed at Webb

Eileen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:36:13 +0000

Virginia: A Quick Once Over vs. Florida: State Sponsored Review

Eileen — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:12:30 +0000

Dr. James V. Koch, former president of ODU, has yet again backed away from his 2005 "report" on revenues resulting from Virginia's offshore drilling. "I surely wouldn't want to go to the cross over the quick once over that I gave to this important topic", he wrote in a recent email to me.

First, this really doesn't qualify as a report. Indeed, I don't even have a copy. I was given about 48 hours to produce a very quick estimate of the economic benefits (jobs, income, taxes) that might be generated by drilling off shore. Since I had no Virginia data, and no time to produce any, I looked at what had happened previously in Louisiana and a Canadian province as a guide. I did not have time to take environmental costs, etc., into account. I do not list this work on my C.V. because I did not invest the considerable time and attention that I give to the many economic impact studies that I do.
There's not much more to say. Those who pose my weekend of work as a full-blown study are making way too much of it. This was not the thorough study that needs to be done and I think should be done. By the same token, the numbers that I produced aren't fictional; they are based upon what has happened other places in roughly similar circumstances.

Nonetheless, that report is the exclusive basis for McDonnell's legislative agenda whereby offshore drilling revenues fund our transportation fixes.

Meanwhile the State of Florida has the novel idea of commissioning a state sponsored report as part of a state Senate review of whether a ban on offshore drilling should be lifted.

As reported in the Miami Herald, the report concludes that "[e]stimated reserves in Florida waters would provide the United States with less than a week's worth of oil and have no discernible effect on prices at the pump or U.S. reliance on foreign oil."

The report is the latest indication that the push to open Florida waters as near as three miles from the state's beaches may be waning, at least for this year.
Another is that all 12 lobbyists for Florida Energy Associates, a group of independent petroleum explorers known as "wildcatters," that's been pushing for lifting the ban have withdrawn, according to the Legislature's lobbyist registry.

According to DOI, Virginia too has less than a week's worth of oil off its shores - 6.5 days to be exact. But that's not the truth that Bob McDonnell and his merry band of Flat Earth Society members want to run with. They'll continue to run with a "report" that the author himself doesn't want to claim.

And who are we kidding?!? Could you ever imagine Virginia's legislature actually ordering a report to support their policy decisions?!?

GA 2010: Crossover Day

Eileen — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:23:46 +0000

From the Virginia Conservation Network:

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of legislative activity for the environmental experts on VCN's Legislative Committee. After analyzing more than 300 relevant bills, this committed team took up the challenging task of educating lawmakers with mixed results. Today marks "Crossover"-the date after which each body of the Virginia General Assembly may only consider bills passed by the other house. Too few pro-environment bills remain viable. However, many ill-conceived proposals have also fallen by the wayside, and it is not too late for concerned citizens to speak up for conservation.

Energy
Commerce and Labor Committees in both the House and Senate took up a slew of energy legislation early this month, opting more often than not for the status quo. For supporters of clean energy reforms, this is disappointing. Among the VCN-supported bills that did not pass committee:
? SB71 (McEachin) & HB 327 (Plum) would have set hard targets for energy efficiency
? SB450 (Whipple) would have made the state's voluntary renewable energy targets mandatory in order to attract more
? HB441 (Toscano) - would have allowed farm cooperatives and homeowner groups to sell clean energy to their neighbors (this bill was carried over for reconsideration in 2011)
? HB1358 (Keam) - would have created inclining and dynamic electricity rates to encourage conservation and off-peak use
? SB729 (McEachin) - would have funded private-sector clean energy R&D

Among the now-defeated energy bills VCN opposed were HB1274 (Hugo), which would have subjected any future reforms to unnecessary delay, and SB 442 (Wagner), which would have empowered a small group of legislators to block or even suspend environmental and public health regulations.

In a rare victory, the Senate passed SB109 (Petersen) and the House passed HB1264 (Hope). These identical bills, dubbed as the Green Public Buildings Act, make green building the law of the land. The state has successfully pursued green building through an executive order, and the passage of these bills provides greater assurance to citizens that their tax dollars will be well-spent.

Among the troubling VCN-opposed bills that are still viable:
? HB1300 (Kilgore) and SB128 (McDougle), which restrict the State Air Pollution Control Board's ability to regulate major emitters of NOx and Sox-the pollutants responsible for acid rain. Though similar, these bills are not identical (the senate version excludes Northern Virignia), so it is not too late to reconsider this approach. Lawmakers should reject the bills because they would place disproportionate burden for Clean Air Act compliance on small businesses and homeowners.
? HB92 (Kilgore), would allow electric coops to exclude clean energy entrepreneurs from doing business in their service territory, thus stifling green entrepreneurship. The senate must still consider this bill, so calls to your senator to voice concern could make a difference.
? SB659 (Wagner) is one of several pro-offshore-drilling bills that VCN opposes. Most are little more than posturing, but this bill is particularly premature. By instructing DEQ to develop theoretical regulations for offshore drilling, it would siphon scare state resources away from actively protecting public health from existing air pollution. The House can still reject this fiscally imprudent measure.
Water
Last week, hundreds of concerned citizens, Coalfields residents, students and ministers came to Richmond to advocate for an end to mountaintop mining and testify in support of Sen. Ticer's "Stream Saver" legislation (SB564). Opponents of the bill also made a strong showing, but some mischaracterized or misunderstood the bill. it would not have affected the majority of mining in Virginia, but would have banned the practice of dumping mining waste into valleys and streams. Though not passed, the bill was carried over to next session, ensuring that the issue won't go away.

A more modest water-quality initiative is moving through the General Assembly. HB1135 (Morgan) would end an exemption that allows "small" wastewater treatment plants to ignore caps on nutrient pollution. Senators should pass this measure as a logical, positive step to protect the rivers of the Chesapeake Bay.

Also of interest-though not endorsed by VCN-is HB 1220 (Hugo) compromise bill that delays implementation of state stormwater regulations until the EPA completes its "pollution diet" for the Chesapeake watershed.

Transportation
Conservation advocates and our allies in education and community organizing scored a significant victory with the defeat of SB181 (Stosch), which would have allowed construction firms to raid public coffers in order to fund public-private infrastructure projects. The many questions surrounding this bill-most notably its cost to taxpayers-led to its defeat in the Senate Finance Committee.

Also defeated were HB277 (Albo) and HB779 (LeMunyon), both of which sought to revive the discredited Washington Bypass-a costly, pro-sprawl road proposal that would do little to address Northern Virginia's pressing transportation needs.

Land Conservation
Bipartisan support for land conservation remains a bright spot at the General Assembly passage of HB 447 (Ware) by the House and the companion SB 264 (Whipple) by the Senate means that Virginia Outdoors Foundation and the many private land trusts that hold easements in the commonwealth will have much-needed new resources to steward conservation lands. A modest fee on the transfer of tax credits will supply these funds.

Questions about a specific bill? Don't hesitate to phone VCN at 804-644-0283. Click here to view the complete list of VCN bill positions.

Virginia’s Misguided Rush to Drill Offshore

Eileen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:42:48 +0000

As published in yesterday's Daily Press:

In the heated debate over offshore drilling, policymakers have only addressed "how much": how much gas and oil, how much tax revenue, and how many new jobs they think it would create. Yet, from the standpoint of healthy oceans, they've largely ignored the coastal environment and economies that would be subjected to potential harm from new offshore drilling such as off Virginia's coast.

Sometimes as an aside to their calls to "drill, baby, drill" comes the condition that drilling be done in an "environmentally safe manner." But what does that mean?

Lost in the debate is the realization that drilling has not occurred off our Atlantic coast for almost 30 years, and thus information on the possible effects of Atlantic drilling "is 30 years out of date," as Interior Secretary Ken Salazar points out.

Revealed at a Department of Interior workshop in Williamsburg in December 2008, large data gaps exist when it comes to endangered and protected species, fish and fisheries, the benthos and biology of the ocean floor, the ecosystems found in Virginia's offshore ocean canyons and coral reefs, as well as physical and geological oceanography.

In the interest of thorough environmental study, Salazar is rightly resistant to the rush to drill that is currently sweeping Virginia. For not only are there huge gaps in the scientific information needed to evaluate the impact of drilling off Virginia's coast, but Virginia's offshore zone is a small microcosm in a much larger coastal and oceanic ecosystem.

Rather than singling out a small area off a single state for an environmental study, the Atlantic coast as a whole needs to be studied. Tidal flows, ocean currents and winds often carry oil spills far from their source. Popular beaches, protected wetlands, sensitive marine habitats, and commercial and sports fishing all up and down the East Coast could be threatened by a large spill in Virginia's offshore zone.

Offshore oil and gas platforms continue to experience catastrophic failures despite the technological advances touted by drilling advocates. The recent blowout on the barely 2-year-old oil platform off the coast of Australia spilled an estimated 6-9 million gallons of oil during the 10 weeks it took to cap the well. Growing to almost the footprint size of New Jersey and observable from space, the spill has now contaminated Indonesian waters with its 5,800-square-mile spread.

It is disturbing that in their rush to drill, oil and gas drilling advocates in Virginia would oppose prudent studies on the impact of drilling on our precious Chesapeake Bay, our sensitive coastal wetlands, and our highly lucrative tourism and fishing industries that are completely dependent on clean beaches and healthy ocean waters.

Offshore drilling advocates cannot have it both ways. If they are being honest when they call for drilling to be done in an environmentally safe manner, then they should endorse Salazar's insistence on thorough studies of the environmental impact of drilling. If, instead, they oppose those studies in their rush to drill, then it is clear that they have failed to appreciate the bounty we have in coastal Virginia and how much we stand to lose if oil drilling were to occur irresponsibly.

GA 2010: Call-In Day for Energy Efficiency Thurs. Jan. 28

Eileen — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:06:11 +0000

Getting smarter about the way we use energy will save families money and create jobs right here in Virginia. Energy experts agree that by far the cleanest, cheapest and quickest way to produce more energy is through efficiency. That is why energy efficiency is again our top goal this legislative session in Richmond. And we need your help!

Join us Thursday, January 28, 2010 for our Call-In Day for Energy Efficiency.

Call your State Senator and urge support for Senator McEachin's Senate Bill 71, which calls on Virginia utilities to take the lead by requiring them to reduce energy consumption 12% by 2022 by investing in readily-available energy-efficiency improvements.

Last year we gained some unlikely support on the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee (the key committee for energy efficiency bills) right after we flooded legislators' offices with calls and emails in support of efficiency. The bottom line: Your calls work! So, let's do it again this year.

Call-In for Energy Efficiency on Thursday, January 28!

The McEachin bill would create up to 10,000 new jobs in the Commonwealth. It's exactly the "Jobs Plan" Virginia needs right now! Efficiency investments will boost Virginia's economy and create a demand for energy efficient construction and weatherization, energy auditors and engineers, and other jobs.

Enacting strong energy efficiency programs not only creates jobs in Virginia, it also saves families and businesses money on their electric bills while also cutting harmful air and water pollution and reducing the threat of climate change. Efficiency is an emissions-free approach to meeting a large portion of the state's energy needs. It's available today with more efficient appliances and industrial processes, and improved weatherization and HVAC systems for offices, schools, homes and other buildings.

Click here to be guided through our Call Alert system for calling your State Senator.

It's easy, quick and so important.

Efficiency would enable Virginia to meet its energy needs without constructing new, expensive power plants like the 1500-megawatt coal-fired plant proposed for the Hampton Roads area (Surry County), estimated to cost as much as $6 billion - the most costly coal plant in the U.S. The plant would be the biggest in Virginia and would release over 14 million tons of global warming pollution every year.

So help us get this important bill, Senate Bill 71, through the State Senate. Call your State Senator on Thursday, January 28!

GA 2010: January 22

Eileen — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:37:10 +0000

Two bills in particular were the subject of a stakeholders' meeting held today by the new Virginia Offshore Wind (VOW) Coalition. Sen. Donald McEachin and Delegate Bill Janis with their respective SB577 and HB389 are proposing creation of a Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority "to facilitate and support the development of wind-powered electric energy facilities located off the coast of the Commonwealth beyond the Commonwealth's three-mile jurisdictional limit".

The Commission is charged with, among other tasks, (i) collecting metocean data, (ii) identifying existing state and regulatory or administrative barriers to the development of the offshore wind industry, (iii) upgrading port facilities to accommodate the manufacturing and assembly of offshore wind energy project components and vessels that will support the construction and operations of offshore wind energy projects, (iv) securing federal loan guarantees, and (v) developing, constructing, and operating interconnection facilities on the Virginia shoreline to connect offshore wind energy projects to the electric grid.

Both bills have been sent to their respective body's Commerce and Labor committee. SB577 is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Commerce and Labor committee on 01/25/2010. It meets on Monday, 2:00 P.M. - Senate Room B. No assignment yet for HB389.

GA 2010: January 21

Eileen — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:02:27 +0000

Virginia's environmental community had a fantastic "Conservation Lobby Day" on Mon., Jan. 18th. But now it's time to roll up our sleeves and get to work! So here's your legislative update for Thurs., Jan. 21st...

One of our marquee bills this session is the "Stream Saver" bill, SB564. (Click here for more info and to watch a video on this important bill.) The good news here is that the bill, introduced by Sen. Patsy Ticer, has picked up additional 5 more co-patrons, including Senators Whipple, Howell, Northam and Marsden. If you have a minute please call today at (800) 889-0229 and ask your Senator to co-patron this important bill!

However there is bad news with submission of SB 128 from Sen. Ryan McDougle. This bill would limit the Air Pollution Control Board's ability to address impacts on non-attainment areas (such as now the Hampton Roads area), in power plant permitting (such as ODEC's Surry coal plant in Hampton Roads).

SB128 is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources committee on January 25, 2010. This committee meets on Mondays, 9:00 am in Senate Room B.

SB564 is scheduled for a hearing on Feb. 11 at 4:00pm before the Senate Ag committee. (This is a correction to what was earlier posted here.)

Senators on this committee include Patsy Ticer, Harry Blevins, Creigh Deeds, Emmett Hanger, Mamie Locke, Ryan McDougle, Don McEachin, Ralph Northam, Mark Obenshain, Phil Puckett, Roscoe Reynolds, Frank Ruff, Richard Stuart, John Watkins, and Mary Margaret Whipple. Especially if these Senators represent you, please be sure to contact them and urge their opposition to SB128. (Click here for contact info for these members.)

(Photo courtesy of Chesapeake Climate Action Network blog.)

Garden Club of Virginia Resolves in Opposition to Surry Coal Plant

Eileen — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:40:51 +0000

From Merry A. Outlaw, Williamsburg Garden Club:

An active association of forty-seven garden clubs, whose members collectively form a group of more than 3,300 civic leaders from around the Commonwealth, the Garden Club of Virginia exists to celebrate the beauty of the land, to conserve the gifts of nature and to challenge future generations to build on this heritage. We encourage our members to be informed advocates for proper land management practices, particularly those involving long-term protection of air, water, and soil qualities; and we encourage local organizations and governing bodies to support responsible residential and commercial development.

With these objectives in mind, the Garden Club of Virginia Board approved a resolution on December 11, 2009 to oppose the Cypress Creek Coal-Fired Power Plant proposed by ODEC for Dendron in Surry County. The resolution follows:

GCV Resolution

WHEREAS, the Garden Club of Virginia strives for the preservation of Virginia's beauty and natural heritage-including clean air and water, healthy terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and intact landscapes-from the Tidewater and the Chesapeake Bay to the mountains and streams in the western portion of the state;

WHEREAS, the coal-fired power plant proposed for Hampton Roads by Old Dominion Electric Co-operative could:
? Exacerbate mountaintop removal coal mining, a practice that permanently destroys the mountains, forests and headwater streams of southwest Virginia-treasured and irreplaceable parts of our natural heritage that provide clean water to communities, harbor a diversity of plants and animals unequaled in other regions of the United States, and enrich the lives of residents and visitors alike;
? Annually emit millions of tons of carbon dioxide, making it a major contributor to climate change, a severe threat to Virginia's more than 3,300 miles of tidal shoreline, its agricultural sector, and its sensitive wildlife habitats;
? Annually emit thousands of tons of the air pollutants that cause smog, soot, ground-level ozone, and acid rain, impairing human health and natural ecosystems;
? Contribute significantly to excessive levels of nitrogen in the Chesapeake Bay-the most serious problem facing the Bay-through deposition of airborne nitrogen oxide emissions, worsening algal blooms that deplete oxygen levels, killing fish and shellfish and creating "dead zones" in the Bay;
? Also emit a large quantity of airborne mercury in close proximity to the Chesapeake Bay and major tributaries, contributing to mercury deposition leading to the contamination of fish and other aquatic life in waters already subject to fish consumption advisories due to excessive mercury levels;

THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Garden Club of Virginia will work to oppose construction of the proposed plant and continue to advocate for investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy in the state.

With this move, the Garden Club of Virginia has joined the former Director of the VA DEQ and 2008 recipient of the GCV Dugdale Award Bob Burnley in opposing construction of the Cypress Creek plant. Groups fighting to stop the plant include the Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Chesapeake Climate Action Network; Wise Energy for Virginia; Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards; Sierra Club; Physicians for Social Responsibility; Surry Justice; and the Southern Environmental Law Center.

On This 1 Year Anniversary of the TVA Coal Ash Spill…

Eileen — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:21:14 +0000

Today is the one year anniversary (Dec. 22, 2008) of the day when, as Treehugger writes, "2.6 million cubic yards (the equivalent of 525.2 million gallons, 48 times more than the Exxon Valdez spill by volume) of coal ash sludge broke through a dike of a 40-acre holding pond at TVA's Kingston coal-fired power plant covering 400 acres up to six feet deep, damaging 12 homes and wrecking a train."

Adds NPR today: "One year later, clean-up is going slower than expected and it's more expensive too." "Residents of area say nosebleeds, breathing problems part of life now" writes the area's Knoxville News Sentinel.

Nearly a year later, living near the ash spill disaster zone remains an unrelenting horror story, those residents say.
Neighborhoods are desolated, and the noise from trains and trucks is almost nonstop.
Coal ash dust is everywhere, and sudden nose bleeds and respiratory problems are grim facts of life.
"It's just a nightmare," said Gary Topmiller, who lives on Emory River Road in Kingston. "It's like being captive in your own home."

Meanwhile, the EPA's promised regulations to tighten down on the handling and disposal of toxic ash from coal-fired power plants has been delayed.

Industry groups argue that if coal ash is regulated as a hazardous waste (no, duh!), it "could force nearly 200 coal-fired power plants nationwide to close". And that's a bad thing?

"A national coal combustion products regulation will alter the technology and economics of coal-fired power plants," Ken Ladwig of the Electric Power Research Institute told a House subcommittee. "Some owners would decide to prematurely shut down rather than incur the costs of compliance, while others would convert their ash handling and disposal systems and continue to operate in the post-regulation market."

"It is impossible to imagine that the imposition of basic landfilling standards will bring down the U.S. power industry," shot back Earthjustice attorney Lisa Evans.

"Generally, coal-ash is not subject to any concrete set of national standards to govern the safety of the impoundments or toxic pollution that leaches from them. Rules vary widely from state to state", writes Ken Ward in the Charleston Gazette.

So, what of Virginia?
The NRDC has a website mapping "Contaminated Coal Waste" in Virginia.

The one new conventional coal plant [Dominion's Wise Co. plant] proposed to be built in Virginia is projected by NRDC to generate 173,473 tons of contaminated coal waste, including 184 tons of toxic metals. Virginia ranks 25th in waste production expected from new conventional coal plants, and 24th in toxic metals from those plants.
Virginia ranks 19th in the country for contaminated coal waste, with 2,329,200 tons of waste reported to the U.S. Energy Information Administration in 2005. The state also ranks 18th in toxic metals contaminating its coal waste, with 1,877 tons of toxic metals, based on NRDC estimates.

Their chart below doesn't include projections for ODEC's Surry coal plant.

Season’s Greetings from Dominion Virginia Power

Eileen — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:38:37 +0000

Voices from Copenhagen – Wind Energy Jobs

Eileen — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:49:01 +0000

Sierra Club's Virginia Chapter Director, Glen Besa, is in Copenhagen for the UN Climate Change conference. Last week he had the opportunity to take a boat tour of Middelgrunden (Denmark) offshore wind farm. Glen recorded this 1 minute video interview with Jakob Lau Hoist with the Danish Wind Industry Association discussing wind energy jobs. The tour was sponsored by Wind Power Works. Enjoy!

Nightmare Before Christmas

Eileen — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:43:25 +0000

Testing 123

Eileen — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:20:46 +0000

Life with WordPress.

Voices from Copenhagen – Sierra Club Student Coalition

Eileen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:48:07 +0000

Sierra Club's Virginia Chapter director Glen Besa is in Copenhagen for the COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Glen is blogging from the conference. His first post on Day 1, "On the Eve of Copenhagen" is here at Sierra Club's Climate Crossroads blog.

Yesterday Day 2, Glen interviewed several of the 18 students with the Sierra Student Coalition are a part of our delegation to Copenhagen. "Hear what five of these student leaders have to say about why these climate negotiations are so important to their future", he writes.

(Additional videos from students are below the fold.)

Vigil for Survival: Reflecting on our Global Climate Challenges

Eileen — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:19:18 +0000

As world leaders gather in Copenhagen to negotiate a new global climate agreement, 350.org is hosting candlelight vigils around the world, with several such vigils taking place in Virginia.

Folks in Southside Hampton Roads will gather starting at 6:30 on Friday, December 11 at the Unitarian Church of Norfolk, 739 Yarmouth Street on the Hague. Speakers include ODU Professor and scholar David Burdige, Department of Ocean Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. For more information, contact Rev. Phyllis L. Hubbell, 410-916-1793, phubbell@uuma.org.

Click here to RSVP. Other Vigils for Survival include Newport News, Williamsburg, and Blacksburg.

Vote Now for Worst Corporate Lobby Award on Climate

Eileen — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:18:26 +0000

Click here to cast your vote in the Angry Mermaid Award and help decide which company or lobby group is doing the most to sabotage effective action on climate change.

Voting is open until Sun., Dec. 13, 2009. The winner of the Angry Mermaid Award will be announced in Copenhagen on Tues., Dec. 15, 2009.

"Crucial UN climate talks take place in Copenhagen this December. While people, organisations and social movements around the world are calling for strong action to prevent climate change and ensure climate justice, big business has been lobbying to block effective action to tackle the problem, while also seeking to benefit from it. Lobbying is defined as attempting to influence the decision-making process.
The Angry Mermaid Award has been set up to recognise the perverse role of corporate lobbyists, and highlight those business groups and companies that have made the greatest effort to sabotage the climate talks, and other climate measures, while promoting, often profitable, false solutions.
Named after the iconic Copenhagen mermaid who is angry about the destruction being caused by climate change, the Angry Mermaid Award winner will be decided by a public poll. Read the story of the Angry Mermaid.

Video from the Angry Mermaid is below the fold. Image above by Polyp.

Oil Spills: “The fact is, these things happen”

Eileen — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:44:04 +0000

"The fact is, these things happen", said Louisiana's Sen. Mary Landrieu, amazingly trying to dismiss the overwhelming risks associated with offshore drilling. Standing in front of a large poster of the flaming Australian oil platform at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week, she even went as far as to accuse drilling opponents of lying and scare-mongering!

"All we did was testify about real things that have really happened, to make the point that despite advances in technology, mistakes are still made and accidents still happen - and with offshore oil production, the consequences still can be severe", writes Sky Truth's John Amos who was invited to testify on several significant oil spill incidents they've investigated over the past few years.

These investigations include "the recent Montara platform blowout and spill in the Timor Sea off Western Australia; this summer's spill in the Gulf of Mexico from the Eugene Island Pipeline operated by Shell; and the spills from hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, and Ike in 2008, that exposed the Achilles heel of offshore production: the vulnerability and severe spill risk posed by the coastal infrastructure - especially pipelines and storage facilities - that is necessary to support offshore drilling."

Sky Truth was also commissioned to produce the image depicting the Australian oil spill off Virginia's coast. Click here to view image.

As an LTE in today's Virginian-Pilot points out (not online yet - see below the fold), politicians hinge their support of offshore drilling on its capacities to be done in an environmentally safe manner. The Australian spill especially shoots that pro-drilling argument to hell. The truth hurts and thus the knee-jerk reaction of people like Sen. Landrieu saying basically "shit happens".

Why in the world do we want shit to happen off our Virginia coasts?

Adrift on offshore drilling
Re "Health care divides Senate hopefuls at rare GOP forum," Hampton Roads, Nov. 22: The debates failed to address Jeff McWaters' stance on offshore drilling. He came to my door a few weeks ago. When I asked about his view, he said he supports it.
There is no such thing as safe offshore drilling. Just ask the citizens of Australia, who are dealing with a major disaster from the two-year-old, state-ofthe-art Montara drilling rig - one of the so- called "safe" ones. After two months of trying to cap it, the blowout created a slick over an area 10 times the size of London.
Opening our coast for drilling is a veritable Pandora's box. I can't imagine an intelligent person thinking this will benefit our area. It is political posturing and a shameless betrayal because, as the laws stand now, profits from oil and gas leases go straight to the feds.
I don't know Rosemary Wilson's position on drilling, but seeing how she has supported the Beach during her tenure makes me feel a lot more comfortable with her in the state Senate.
Christine Morgan
Virginia Beach

VOW is wow!

Eileen — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:33:04 +0000

Crossposted at HR Sierra Club.

Last week at its monthly Hampton Roads Planning District Commission meeting, a new organization, the Virginia Offshore Wind Energy Coalition, introduced itself and presented a report regarding the status of Atlantic coast offshore wind projects, the economic development opportunities for Hampton Roads, and their legislative strategies for the 2010 General Assembly. (Click here to read entire report.)

According to the report, the Department of Energy estimates long term offshore wind energy potential off Virginia's shoreline at 6572 megawatts. The Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium (VCERC) estimates the near term offshore wind energy potential at 3500 megawatts with a capital investment of up to $10 billion.

The Federal government's Mineral Management Services (MMS) released its offshore renewable energy development regulations in June this year. Already two companies have submitted lease applications for projects off Virginia's coasts.

Capital investment in the East Coast offshore wind energy industry for the coming 10 years is expected to be in excess of 15 billion. And everyone up and down the Atlantic seaboard wants a piece of this action.

New Jersey and Rhode Island head the pack with potentially the first commercial utility scale projects expected to be online as early as 2012. Procurement of wind turbines, installation vessels and other main components of these first projects will occur in the coming 6-12 months.

VCERC estimates $2.4 billion investment in the local economy. It is expected that more than 50% of offshore wind energy scope of supply will be manufactured locally. The thousands of jobs include engineering and fabrication of installation and service vessels, fabrication of towers and foundation monopoles and heavy turbine components. Amongst its East Coast neighbors, Virginia and specifically Hampton Roads with its deep water port and ship building industry, is envisioned as being the manufacturing hub for the industry.

With impending renewable energy standards and cap-and-trade requirements imposed by both the Federal and state government, Virginia's offshore wind will provide a clean energy source that keeps these carbon credits within the Commonwealth, instead of importing them from the Midwest wind energy sources which involves building more transmission lines.

For more information, contact Ann Flandermeyer at 757-675-1876 or annflan@principle-advantage.com.

Key Hearing on Surry Coal Plant on Mon., Nov. 23!

Eileen — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:07:05 +0000

Old Dominion Electric Cooperative wants to build the largest coal plant in Virginia in the Hampton Roads region. On Monday, Nov. 23rd, the Surry County Planning Commission is holding a public hearing on whether to grant local zoning approval for this controversial plant and allow ODEC to amend the Comprehensive Plans of Surry County and the Town of Dendron. This is a crucial time to speak out against this monstrosity of a coal plant and to maintain control of the direction of our communities!

The proposed plant, located only a few miles from one of the Commonwealth's greatest treasures, the Chesapeake Bay, would poison surrounding waterways with 116 pounds of mercury per year. The plant would create nearly 60 tons of poisonous coal ash a day, to be stored in Surry County, and would increase the demand for coal extracted using mountaintop removal mining. In addition, it would add nearly 15 million tons of global warming pollution to our air every year.

Please plan to attend this critical meeting on Monday, Nov. 23 starting at 7:00pm at the Surry County Government Center, 45 School St. in Surry, VA. Visit the Wise Energy for Virginia site for more information.

Live Blogging from GreenUp Hampton Roads Expo

Eileen — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:18:40 +0000

Despite the nor-ester hitting Hampton Roads, the GreenUp Expo goes on.

The first session that I attended was supposedly entitled "Renewable Energy Resources/Clean Energy". I say "supposedly" because one of the speakers was Cathie France, director of government relations with Virginia Natural Gas.

She talked about natural gas as the "bridge" to renewable energy. Makes no sense! Why invest $ in a nonetheless dirty fossil fuel that reeks havoc on the environment w/ its production process? The "bridge" fuel is bio-diesel, geo-thermal, energy efficiency, etc. But hey, the fat cats in t...he oil & gas industry can't pad their wallets w/ those resources. Drill, baby, drill.

I'm now sitting in a session on "Eco-tourism". Only 1 of the 3 speakers showed up. The moderator, a guy I've met before and whose name escapes me, is pitch hitting. This guy is the recycling coordinator for the City of Newport News. He told me they have a new Sustainability Plan for Newport News. It's not online yet, but I'm anxious to see it. I'm working with Virginia Beach to develop their Sustainability Plan. The City Council wants it by the end of December 2009.

I'm feeling obnoxious so I had to ask how the Virginia Beach Hotel & Motel Association could endorse offshore drilling considering how spills happen despite the "new technology" (note Australian oil spill) and the devastation to our tourism and fishing industries.

Alright, I'm moving on to the third session, "Marketing Green".

“Friends of Coal” Coloring Book for Kids

Eileen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:33:23 +0000

"Gross" is how CCAN's Lauren Glickman describes a kids coloring book produced by the West Virginia Coal Association and obtained and scanned by the Center for American Progress.

ThinkProgress.com has more:

Friends of Coal (FOC) is a front group created by the West Virginia Coal Association. Its mission is to "inform and educate West Virginia citizens about the coal industry" and "provide a united voice" for the industry. To make dirty coal seem appealing, FOC has sponsored or initiated license plates, football games, basketball practices, plane jumps, fishing events, and scholarships.
The FOC Ladies Auxiliary has been handing the coloring book out to children around West Virginia as part of a "Coal in the Classroom" campaign. Coal officials go into schools and give presentations about the importance of coal. "We'd really like this to be statewide, that it be mandatory in the schools that they learn about coal," said FOC ladies auxiliary president Regina Fairchild in January. The ladies auxiliary is also recruiting members for its "junior" FOC group, open to "girls and boys ages 8 to 16."
Additionally, FOC ladies auxiliary members have visited children in West Virginia hospitals to give them a "special present": Mr. Coal, "a small, black Labrador stuffed puppy meant to bring a smile to kids' faces during hospital stays."

How easy it would be to create our own version of this coloring book - depict mountain top removal, polluted tap water, road dust from coal trucks, kids with inhalers for their asthma, sludge ponds looming in the mountains over elementary schools, poisoned fish, money grubbing politicians, backroom deals, etc., etc. Let's do it!

All It Takes Is One Spill: Imaging Australia’s Oil Spill on Virginia’s Waters

Eileen — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:14:34 +0000

(Click on image to enlarge).

Yesterday, on day #46 of the devastating oil spill that continues to dump oil into Australian seas, the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter released images of that spill plotted off Virginia's coast.

The images were commissioned from SkyTruth who used NASA and other government generated satellite images to depict the Australian oil spill that as of September 3 has grown to almost 9,900 square miles - larger than the square mile size of Vermont. The simple overlay of the Australian spill originating at a hypothetical well in the Lease Area 220 shows an oil spill of this size reaching Virginia Beach, Virginia's Eastern Shore and the northern Outer Banks.

"Supporters of offshore drilling have been saying there is no risk of a spill in Virginia waters with modern drilling technology. What is happening in Australia right now with a new rig built in 2007 proves that claim wrong," added Besa. "Plotted off Virginia's coast, the Australian oil spill should give Virginia great pause" said Glen Besa, Sierra Club Virginia Chapter Director. "All it takes is one spill to virtually shutdown Virginia's coastal economy, both tourism and fisheries, for years. Oil is still disrupting the natural environment in Prince William Sound 20 years after the Exxon Valdez spill."
In 2005, Virginia's commercial and recreational fishing industry generated a total of $1.23 billion and 13,015 jobs for the economy of Virginia[1]. Last year, tourism in Virginia Beach alone generated over $1.5 billion in revenue and almost 12,000 jobs[2]. Coastal communities up and down the Atlantic seaboard are reliant upon a thriving tourism business to drive their economies. Behind Florida and New Jersey, Virginia is third with $26 billion and over 210,000 corresponding jobs[3].

"Oil is extremely toxic to a wide variety of marine species, plants, and microscopic animals. It poisons birds, mammals and fish," said Eileen Levandoski, Hampton Roads Conservation Coordinator with the Sierra Club. "Those not killed outright from oil spills suffer a slow death from debilitating illness and injury as a result." Sighted off Virginia's shores are a number of species protected by the Endangered Species Act. Located in Virginia's Norfolk and Washington Canyons are coral reefs that are home to complex, diverse and economically valuable ecosystems.

Officials estimate it will take another two weeks before the Australian spill can be brought under control. Using the oil company's own estimates, 400 barrels per day, over 750 thousand gallons of oil have spilled since the blowout on August 21. Using an alternative estimate of 3,000 barrels per day that is based on the actual published flow rates of nearby oil wells, almost 6 million gallons may have been spilled so far. By comparison, in 1989 the Exxon Valdes spilled 11 million gallons in Alaska's Prince William Sound.

------

* These images are not quantitative models and do not take into account local currents, winds, and bathymetry. They are used for the purpose of illustrating the size of Australia's spill in relation to Virginia's coast. SkyTruth produces Satellite images and digital mapping for environmental protection, education and advocacy, and is widely recognized for its satellite images of oil spills resultant from Hurricane Katrina. They also work with Appalachian Voices to expose the widespread landscape disruption caused by mountaintop removal - the wholesale destruction of mountains and streams to strip-mine the underlying coal. Galleries of images can be found at SkyTruth.org.

[1] Economic Contributions of Virginia's Commercial Seafood and Recreational Fishing Industries, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
[2] Virginia Locality Economic Impact Data, Virginia Tourism Corporation, Commonwealth of Virginia
[3] NRDC. Testing the Waters: 2007. See also Old Dominion Univ., Economic Forecasting Project 2007.

Same Rigs in Australian Blowout Suggested for Offshore Virginia

Eileen — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:45:23 +0000

While I appreciate this editorial "Big discoveries don't change oil's equation", I'm disappointed that the Pilot didn't report on the massive Australian oil spill that now enters month #2 of dumping crude into the ocean. Officials estimate "it was still about two weeks away from plugging the leak, which has already been gushing for more than a month".

The drilling rig involved in this disastrous offshore blowout was built in 2007. The oil platform used was constructed in 2008. These are the same rigs that the oil industry is suggesting for use off Virginia's shores.

The scale and duration of this huge spill should be an ongoing lesson to which we in Virginia pay close attention. Even new drilling technology is not safe, in spite of the oil industry's claims. The risk of spills still exists and even just one spill would levy disastrous impacts on our Virginia coastal economies and environment.

From Radio Australia:

Worries about the oil spill off Australia's north west coast are now being worsened by fears about the chemicals being used to control it. The spill at the West Atlas drill rig in the Timor Sea started more than three weeks ago, and no-one believes it will take less than three more weeks to plug the oil. The slick is now so big it can be seen from space, and a light sheen has crept within ten kilometres of Ashmore Reef. Fishermen say a fifth of their waters have been polluted by the oil and they're worried that fish could be poisoned.

The above graphic produced by SkyTruth illustrates a "what if" that blowout occurred off the coast of Florida. Granted, Florida currents are different than Australia currents. This graphic is provided only to give you a sense of the size of this spill. The purple blob which depicts the size of the Australian oil spill and superimposed on the Florida coast was taken from NASA satellite images dating back to Aug. 30. Satellite images of the Timor Sea taken on Sept. 3 reveals the area of slicks and sheen more than doubled in size in just 4 days, from 2,500 sq miles on Aug. 30 to 5,800 sq miles on Sept. 3. That's larger than the state of Connecticut at 5,544 square miles.

Dramatic remote-sensing photographs provided by NASA and other federal agencies are available to view online at SkyTruth.

Why, Virginia, why??? Why would we even remotely consider drilling off our shores? So much risk while so little return.

SELC LTE: McDonnell – Wrong on Drilling

Eileen — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:25:01 +0000

Here's an LTE appearing in today's Virginian-Pilot:

Gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell has erred in touting offshore drilling for oil and gas as a way to replenish state coffers. Federal law limits the sharing of oil and gas revenue to the Gulf states of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. According to all reports, Congress is not likely to expand this program. In fact, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has rejected a proposal to expand the program.

So, even if one supports oil and gas drilling, it would be erroneous to do so on the grounds that the commonwealth would benefit from any of the revenue.

Despite McDonnell's public statements to the contrary, offshore oil and gas drilling in Virginia is not 'already set.' The U.S. Minerals Management Service has only just begun to review a potential lease sale in Virginia; thus no decision has been made.

The Southern Environmental Law Center opposes a potential lease sale in Virginia because the minuscule amount of oil and gas it would yield is simply not worth the enormous consequences that the drilling would have on commercial and sport fishing, coastal tourism and ocean life, including endangered whales and turtles. (Not to mention that the area in question overlaps with sensitive Department of Defense and NASA operations in the Atlantic.)

Rather, federal and state leaders should be focusing time and money on developing noncarbon based energy sources including the tremendous offshore wind potential that Virginia has.

Marirose Pratt, Charlottesville